Asus Rampage II Extreme Review

Introduction:

With the X58 chipset well established as the new standard in enthusiast systems, vendors are trying to push the market to more mainstream audiences by doing whatever it takes to lower prices. Luckily for us, there are vendors out there that remember their roots and refuse to lower the quality of their products; vendors like Asus! With the Rampage II Extreme, Asus makes a bold move to make a board with specs that geeks can cuddle up to at night.

The Asus P6T got great results, especially in the overclocking regimen, so I have very high hopes and expectations for this board with the upgrade to 16 phase circuitry, among many other things. Without further ado, the Rampage II Extreme!

Closer Look:

The Rampage II Extreme comes in the same red flame motif style that its little brother, the Rampage II GENE, comes in. It holds its style well, while proclaiming its leetness simply through the powerful logos plastered on the box; the most prominent of which is the Republic of Gamers logo in the top left corner. Along the bottom, Asus has put the Core i7 logos, the X58 Chipset logo, the Crossfire X logo, and the SLI logo. With that combination of certifications, you know this puppy packs a punch. Of course, you cant miss Asus's own "Rock Solid, Heart Touching" logo in the bottom right. Opening the flap on the front of the box gives you a full frontal of this beast. The top section touts a ton of the exclusive features included on this board, as well as squeezing in some more logos and pictures. When you flip the box over, you are greeted by five captions in many different languages, as well as four pictures showing the "TweakIt" & "ProbeIt" area, the "Extreme Engine" sans heatspreader/ROG LED, a screen shot of the bundled 3DMark Vantage Advanced Edition, and a picture of the SupremeFX X-Fi audio card included with the board.

Opening up the box brings you to another stage of Asus's welcomed class. There are two black boxes within, one that contains the accessories, and one that contains the motherboard protected by a thick clear plastic mold used for the window. The accessories box opens through a unique fold out design that is a welcome relief from the usual brown cardboard frame. In the RIIE's accessory box, you see four partitions chock full of goodies to get you well on your way within the Republic of Gamers.

Some notable items include a very thick and informative Users Guide, a Driver Disc, an Asus Q-Fan with instructions for the ones among us who couldn't handle installing a fan, an LCD Poster, the SupremeFX X-Fi audio card, and the very cool, over the top illuminated back panel.